adrenal insufficiency/fatigue testing

[rosypo]

Hello everyone.

My son seems to have symptoms of adrenal fatigue. We are about to send a saliva test off to Genova, but I saw a post by someone about a year ago saying that a GP could do a blood test for ACTH, aldosterone and cortisol and renin. Would this give an indication of adrenal insufficiency? (I know the short synthatin test is used for a positive diagnosis)

Our GP is lovely and I'm sure he would do the blood test for my son if we asked him, but I just want to know if it is worth asking.

[rosetrees]

My personal view is that if a doctor is willing to do tests, you should ask and get the results for your records. Along with the saliva test, they might help you broaden the picture and get a better idea of what treatment will help.

Your doctor won't accept any results as an indication of hypoadrenalism as the only condition they will acknowledge is Addison's disease - total adrenal failure.

There are doctors and forums that will help you, if the results show a possible problem

[arjs in reply to rosetrees]

I would get your doctor to do it and do the saliva test to compare both. It is really simple I have done 2 from genova in the past. you are very lucky to have a nice doctor.

[Churchie in reply to rosetrees]

Does anyone know why they won't recognise adrenal fatigue?

It seems a bit strange from a medical point of view to say that either your adrenals are completely ok or completely knackered

[Hidden]

NHS does not treat adrenal fatigue so don't waste your time

[rocketmom]

Every test provides you with more information than you had before. Get any tests you can. The NHS might not treat adrenal fatigue but you can always self treat. But, you need some kind of roadmap. Get all the tests you can.

[rosypo]

Thankyou everyone for your comments. I think I'll go ahead and ask.

[rosypo]

I was wondering that myself, Churchie. Why wait for someone to get really ill?

[myboys12]

Unfortunately that is the case in Ireland also,and the range is 3.4 up to 31.So if you're 3.5 they call it normal.The younger you are the higher your levels should be,as your adrenal glands slow down naturally with age.My DHEA test came back at 6 which my most open minded endo said was less than half of what it should be for my age.Most doctors tell you to rest and it will heal naturally,yeah..in years.He put me on DHEA meds and high dosage of CQ10,along with the rest,in a fortnight the improvement has been remarkable.Be sure to get the exact results of all tests,that way you can do your own research and when you are well informed a nice GP will hopefully listen to you.Being an ex teacher I use the analogy of a school test where one child gets 9/10 and another gets 4/10(bare pass mark)...am I supposed to treat them both the same and give the same work to both,ignoring the fact that one child needs extra support...I'd be a very bad teacher if I allowed that,and I 'd be hauled over the coals,justifiably,by parents and principal for poor attention to my pupils needs.The same should apply to a lot of doctors.